September 24, 2010: Adios, Zucchini

Powdery mildew and Mr. Granny finally did it in. We could no longer walk around the side of the house, and Mr. G hit it with the riding lawnmower the other day, so I decided its time had come. That one plant dwarfs the garden cart!

Two overgrown zukes were found in the process, as well as one of edible size that will be sliced and fried tonight. There were several tiny squash left on the vine, and many more blossoms, so it would have continued to bear until it froze. Oh well, all good things must come to an end, and I certainly can't complain about the 70 pounds of zucchini it gave us, which is a record crop for me by nearly fifty pounds! By the way, those two large zucchinis will not be added to the edible totals for the year, they will be composted. The large one weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces, and the other biggie was 5 pounds 6 ounces.

17 comments:

Are you sure you don't want to save that large zucchini just in case? You know, just in case you have to defend yourself in a bear attack or something? (see my post from yesterday for the bear news, if you haven't yet) :-)

I'm thinking along those same lines Gran - I'm sure Mr. Granny has always had a secret yearning for a gun rack in the window of the truck? Now when you head south you can hang your weapons, er, zucchini on the gun rack!

LOL, Dan, I had to cut them in half to weigh them! They're in the compost bin now.

The only thing I did different with this plant was to bury a bucket of garbage under it. I was heading for the compost bin with it, when I decided I'd just trench compost it and plant zucchini over the top. I guess that worked.

Wow, 70 pounds. Although I might have had that much and should probably have weighed this year. The zucchini came late but was very prolific and is still bearing zucchinis so I'm leaving it in until the very end. But I have enough frozen shredded zuchini and made up breads to last through the year, think a few will need to go to the church fair next month! And I believe it that you fended off a bear without even a zucchini :-)

Jan, actually the smaller of the two wasn't too bad. I pondered whether I should grate it for the freezer. I pondered for about 30 seconds, then tossed it into the compost! I have enough zucchini in the freezer to last probably a couple of years!

********Ribbit, see above comment to Jan ;-)

********Linda, if I weren't trying to get everything done before I head south, I'd have let it bear a few more. But....three weeks from now I have to leave, and three weeks isn't long when there's so much garden cleanup to do. And packing. And house cleaning. I like to leave everything ship-shape, it's so much nicer to come back home to.

Char, I think mine did so well because it wasn't being hit directly with the lawn sprinklers. It didn't get powdery mildew until it grew way out in the grass. That and the bucket of kitchen scraps I put in a hole, then covered with a hill of composted cow poo before planting the seeds.

********Diane, we have enjoyed several of the larger zucchinis stuffed. These, however, were hard as wood and very dry and pithy inside. Both had been hiding way in the back of the plant, next to the fence, and had gone unnoticed for way too long!

Mr. Granny is quite picky about how he eats his zucchini, preferring it be dipped in beaten egg then cracker crumbs and fried crisp in butter. He'll also eat it baked in a marinara sauce, with lots of melty cheese.